Page 14 of Winter at Stonefire
She grinned at him, making her even more beautiful. “So fainting and being pregnant is all it took?”
He drawled, “It’s almost as if you planned all of this in advance.”
She laughed. “No. Although I plan to use this situation to my advantage as much as possible.”
Bringing her closer, until she pressed more fully against his body, he murmured, “Try, love. But it’s no guarantee it will always work.”
And as Jane went through some ridiculous propositions—such as finally trying to ride his dragon form in a saddle some day despite her paralyzing fear of heights—he teased and cuddled and merely held his mate.
The times ahead were going to be tough, but he could face it with her. The hard part was waiting to hear how else the doctors might be able to help Jane.
Since all he could do was wait, Kai gave his mate plenty of dragon cuddles and merely reveled in holding his female close, where she belonged.
ChapterTen
The next day, Sid sat in the biggest conference room on Stonefire and waited for the other dragon doctors to arrive.
Helping Jane had delayed the meeting by a day. But in a way, the delay had been a good thing. Because now she had even more blood test results from the human female. Some were better than she thought, but some not so much.
The fertility pills mixed with dragon-shifter hormones would help, as would shots of dragon's blood. However, Sid was worried about Jane's kidneys. According to the test results, they were drawing nearer and nearer to dangerous levels.
Her, Gregor, Trahern, and Dr. Emily Davies—the Welsh human doctor who'd been working on Stonefire—had all brainstormed about what to do to address the issue. However, they were too close to the situation and desperately needed some fresh eyes.
Sid refused to give up now. Despite everyone saying it couldn't be done, she'd drastically improved survival rates for humans having dragon-shifter children. Next, she wanted to give any couple the chance to have a child whether the human's DNA was compatible with dragon-shifters or not. Because one day, Sid hoped for more acceptance by humans, maybe to the point dragon-shifters wouldn't be restricted to living in clans.
Her dragon sighed.You don't dream small, do you?
Never. And if you don't know that by now, then I'm not sure what I can do.
Although, as soon as she said it, Sid wished she could take it back. Her dragon had been absent for years and years because of a silent dragon drug overdose. Once Gregor's kiss had awakened her beast and kicked off a mate-claim frenzy, they'd had to work on their relationship and play catch up.
Her beast said softly,It's okay. And I do know you fairly well. But I like to tease more than you.
Just so you can keep up with Gregor's dragon.
Maybe.
Sid smiled at memories of their dragons coming out to play just as the door opened and Dr. Maelon Perry from Snowridge walked in, with Dr. Cahir Silver from Northcastle close on his heels. She nodded at the two males. "Maelon, Cahir. Are the others coming?"
Maelon smiled. "Yes. Scarlett wanted to look something up last minute, and Ronan and Daniel were just finishing up breakfast." He glanced around the room. "Are the other Stonefire doctors coming?"
Sid replied, "Trahern is, yes. But Gregor is at the surgery so he can watch over the patients, and I'll catch him up later at whatever happens in our meeting." Sid gestured toward the chairs. "Please, sit down. We can get started as soon as the others arrive."
They chatted over a few cases until the other doctors arrived: Dr. Scarlett Turner from Skyhunter, Dr. Daniel Keith from the Scottish splinter clan of Seahaven, Dr. Layla McFarland from Lochguard, Dr. Ronan O'Brien from Glenlough, and Dr. Trahern Lewis, who worked with Sid and Gregor on Stonefire. Sid had tried to convince Dr. Emily Davies to come, but she'd insisted it was a meeting for dragon doctors and she was human.
Once everyone was seated, Sid didn't waste time. "Thank you all for coming. I know we've had many meetings via video conferences, but it's nice to see each other in person. And whilst we have a number of things to discuss, I propose we go over the information I sent last night first."
Sid had sent emails to all the doctors, with details about Jane's case. Given the small miracle of Jane being able to conceive a dragon-shifter's child, Sid wanted to be proactive and give mother and baby the best chance.
Scarlett from Skyhunter spoke first. "There hasn't been much time, but there are a few things I came up with. Given Skyhunter's recent past—which also reduced our birth rates further, due to the former leader's control over matings and pregnancies—helping any and all females who want to conceive and carry to term has become one of my top priorities. During my research, I came across a former doctor's journal, one that is dated from over a hundred and fifty years ago."
Sid leaned forward. Finding any sort of old dragon-shifter medical records was rare. Many of the books had been destroyed over the years, sometimes at the DDA's command. She asked, "Did it have anything useful inside?"
The female doctor nodded. "Yes. It's mostly a record of medicinal plants in Sussex and their uses. There were also some early chemistry formulas and experiment notes. After losing his sister to childbirth, a doctor named John Greystone concentrated on helping pregnant females. There are some new methods I haven't seen before. Or, rather, were forgotten. We might be able to try testing if any of the doctor's suggestions have merit." She glanced at Trahern. "Research is more your strength than mine. Would you be willing to go over his formulas and test any that might help?"
Trahern nodded. "Send me the information."
Sid jumped in again. "Maybe send the information to us all?"